The Venus Evening Apparition of 2022-2023

by Martin J. Powell

Following superior conjunction on October 22nd 2022 (when it passed directly behind the Sun in the constellation of Virgo) Venus' 2022-23 apparition as an 'Evening Star' commenced as the planet emerged in the dusk sky around mid-November 2022. Observers at Southern Tropical latitudes were the first to see it, low down in the WSW soon after sunset. Northern latitudes began to detect the planet from around late November (at 30° North), early December (40° North), mid-December (50° North) and late December (60° North). Southern latitudes detected the planet from mid-November (at 15° South) to late November (35°-45° South).

Venus was moving in an Easterly direction (direct or prograde) at this time, entering the constellation of Libra, the Scales, on October 29th and Scorpius, the Scorpion on November 17th. On November 21st Venus crossed the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun, Moon and planets along the zodiac) from North to South, whilst positioned in Northern Scorpius. The planet entered Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, on November 22nd.

Venus reached a solar elongation (angle measured from the Sun) of 10° East on December 2nd, shining at an apparent magnitude of -3.8 and pulling away from the Sun at a rate of about 0°.25 per day. The planet entered Sagittarius, the Archer, on December 7th.

As Venus began its apparition the planet Mercury, shining at magnitude -0.5, also entered the evening sky in its fourth and final evening apparition of 2022. Mercury was pulling away from the Sun at a rate of 0°.49 per day, i.e. twice that of Venus. This was the first of three paired apparitions which took place between the two planets during Venus' 2022-23 evening apparition (a paired apparition being when the two planets are visible together for a prolonged period of time, either in the morning sky or the evening sky). Due to Solar System geometry, apparitions of Mercury typically favour either Northern or Southern hemisphere observers, however this apparition favoured no particular hemisphere. As it emerged in the dusk sky, Mercury was positioned 4°.2 ESE of Venus (at 0 hours UT on December 6th). Over the next two weeks Mercury swiftly pulled away Eastwards from Venus, moving away from it at a rate of about 0°.23 per day. Mercury was positioned 4°.8 ESE of Venus at midnight UT on the 9th and 5°.4 ESE of Venus at midnight UT on the 12th.

On December 13th Venus attained its most Southerly position in the zodiac for the 2022-23 apparition, with a declination (symbol ) of -24° 13' 20" (-24°.2224 in decimal form), located just inside the Western border of Sagittarius. Venus now set at its most Southerly point along the local horizon for this apparition. By late December the planet was setting around an hour after sunset.

At midnight UT, Mercury was positioned 5°.7 ESE of Venus on December 15th and 5°.9 East of it on the 18th. By December 19th Mercury was deviating Northwards, causing its Eastward rate of motion to slow, such that Venus began to catch up with it, Mercury being positioned 5°.8 East of Venus at midnight UT on the 19th. On December 21st Mercury reached its greatest elongation from the Sun, being positioned 20°.1 East of it and 5°.4 East of Venus. Venus itself reached a solar elongation of 15° East on December 23rd. Over the next week the gap between Mercury and Venus narrowed, being 5°.3 East of Venus at midnight UT on the 22nd, 4°.1 ENE of it on the 25th and 2°.1 North-east of it on the 28th. The waxing crescent Moon passed by the planetary pair from December 24th to 25th.

On December 26th Venus passed through the aphelion point in its orbit (its most distant point from the Sun), at a solar distance of 0.7282 AU (Astronomical Unit), equivalent to 108.9 million kms or 67.7 million statute miles, the first of two occasions during this apparition when it did so. Its closest point to the Sun - known as the perihelion - would be reached in April 2023.

At 09:17 UT on December 29th Venus finally caught up with Mercury, passing 1°.4 to the South of it in an event called a planetary conjunction. A planetary conjunction takes place when two planets attain the same celestial longitude, so that they appear close together in the sky; it is the first of six such conjunctions that Venus would encounter during its 2022-23 evening apparition. This particular conjunction could only be observed - with some difficulty - from latitudes between about 51° North and 37° South (see the Planetary Conjunctions section below for more details). Mercury, having faded to magnitude +0.5, reached its Eastern stationary point on the same day as the conjunction. Over the next few days Mercury swiftly pulled away Westwards from Venus and headed out of view into the dusk twilight.

Venus entered Capricornus, the Sea-Goat, on January 2nd, reaching an elongation of 20° East of the Sun on January 13th, positioned in the centre of that constellation. During January the planet moved at a rate of around 1°.25 per day against the background stars, positioned about 1°.5 South of the ecliptic.

At this early stage of the apparition, when seen through a telescope, Venus showed a broad gibbous shape (i.e. a little less than a full disk), its phase (the percentage of the illuminated portion of the disk) being around 95%. The planet shone at magnitude -3.9 and its apparent diameter measured only a little over 10" across (i.e. 10 arcseconds, where 1" = 1/60th of an arcminute or 1/3600 of a degree). The planet's low altitude (angle above the horizon), its great distance from the Earth and its small apparent size made Venus a difficult object to observe telescopically, with little or no detail being visible in its clouds.

Up until this point, at half-an-hour after local sunset, Venus had been positioned over the South-western or WSW horizon, its altitude no higher than about 10° above the horizon. From mid-January Venus' position along the local horizon at any given time after sunset began to move slowly Northwards over the coming months and the planet's altitude also increased; movements which would continue through to mid-May. The rate of altitude increase was relatively fast in the Northern hemisphere but more gradual in the Southern hemisphere. During the 2022-23 evening apparition it would be the Northern hemisphere which first saw Venus attain its highest point in the sky after sunset (in early to mid-Spring) while the Southern hemisphere would witness this about a month or two later (in late Autumn/early Winter). Details of the planet's direction and altitude at 30 minutes after sunset for various latitudes are listed in the table below and they are also shown in the form of a horizon diagram.

On January 14th Venus passed 1° South of the star Cap (Theta Capricorni, mag. +4.0), which is positioned at the centre of Capricornus. At 10:12 UT on January 17th the planet passed just 13' (0°.21) South of the star  Cap (Iota Capricorni, mag. +4.2), positioned at the 'rump' of the Sea-Goat figure.

In mid-January Venus was approaching Saturn to its WNW, now positioned in Eastern Capricornus and shining at magnitude +0.8, at a rate of 1°.1 per day. The ringed planet was in the closing stage of its 2022-23 apparition and, being very distant and small, was not seen at its best at this time. Its rings were nonetheless on view although they were slowly narrowing their aspect towards the Earth. Saturn's rings measured 35" across, the globe of the planet being 15" across; this compared with Venus whose apparent diameter was 10".9 at this time. Saturn was positioned 6°.7 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 17th, 4°.5 WNW of Venus on the 19th, 2°.2 WNW of it on the 21st and 1°.1 North-west of it on the 22nd.

On January 20th Venus passed 7°.9 South of the star Bunda ( Aqr or Xi Aquarii, mag. +4.7), located in the neighbouring constellation of Aquarius, the Water-Bearer. The name was formally assigned to the star by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2018 after a Persian lunar mansion. On January 21st Venus passed 1°.0 North of Nashira ( Cap or Gamma Capricorni, mag. +3.7), one of the stars located in the 'tail' of the Sea Goat.

On January 22nd Venus passed 1°.1 North of the Sea Goat's brightest star, a variable star named Deneb Algedi ( Cap or Delta Capricorni, mag. +2.9) in Eastern Capricornus. The name is Arabic for 'tail of the goat' and it was also known as Deneb Algiedi or Scheddi before IAU standardisation in 2017.

At 19:36 UT on January 22nd Venus and Saturn met in the second planetary conjunction of the 2022-23 evening apparition, Venus passing 22' (0°.36) to the South of the ringed planet. The relatively narrow solar elongation of 22° meant that the event was not seen at high altitude anywhere across the world (an assessment of the worldwide visibility of this and the other five conjunctions of the 2022-23 apparition is discussed in the Planetary Conjunctions section below).

Following conjunction, Venus pulled away from Saturn, being 21' (0°.35) to the South-west of Saturn at midnight UT on the 23rd, 2°.3 West of the ringed planet on the 25th and 4°.6 WNW of it on the 27th.

Venus entered Aquarius on January 24th. Around this time Venus was setting some 2 hours after sunset (at high-Northern latitudes), 1¾ hours after sunset (at low and mid-Northern latitudes), 1½ hours after sunset (Equatorial and Tropical latitudes) and 1¼ hours after sunset (mid-Southern latitudes). Visibility durations of the planet after sunset for a variety of world latitudes are shown in the Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration table below.

On January 26th Venus passed 32' (0°.53) North of the star Aqr (Iota Aquarii, mag. +4.2), positioned at the 'knee-joint' of the Water-Bearer's advancing leg. On January 28th it passed 4°.5 South of the star Ancha ( Aqr or Theta Aquarii, mag. +4.1), positioned roughly at the centre of the Water-Bearer figure.

Between January 29th and February 1st Venus passed about 10° South of the asterism (star pattern) informally-named the 'Steering Wheel'. At the centre of the 'wheel' is the star Aqr (Zeta Aquarii, mag. +3.7) with the stars Sadachbia ( Aqr or Gamma Aquarii, mag. +3.9), Aqr (Eta Aquarii, mag. +4.0) and Aqr (Pi Aquarii, mag. +4.8) encircling it. It is one of several asterisms spread across the zodiac with which beginner astronomers should become familiar, in order to aid constellation identification. On some modern star maps this asterism is seen to depict the head of the Water-Bearer figure; such maps are based on the constellations envisaged in the 1950s by the author and illustrator H. A. Rey (1898-1977). On older star maps, such as the Uranographia published in 1801 by Johann Elert Bode (1747-1826), these stars marked the amphora from which the water was poured.

At 14:25 UT on January 31st Venus passed just 18' (0°.3) South of the star Aqr (Sigma Aquarii, mag. +4.8), which Venus will occult (see below) during its morning apparition in 2048. At 04:30 UT on the same day the planet passed 11° South of the aforementioned Aqr, a double star located at the centre of the 'Steering Wheel'.

By early February Venus' solar elongation had extended to 25° and its apparent size had increased slightly to a little over 11". The apparent disk size would continue to increase as the apparition progressed. Telescopes showed a notably gibbous phase about 90% illuminated.

On February 5th Venus passed 1°.1 South of the star Aqr (Lambda Aquarii, mag. +3.8) which is positioned a little to the South of the ecliptic. During its 2014 morning apparition Venus passed in front of this star, blocking it from view for several minutes in an event called an occultation. Meanwhile, some 25° away to the WNW, Jupiter (mag. -2.0) was about to exit central Southern Pisces and enter the non-zodiacal constellation of Cetus, the Whale. Venus and Jupiter would meet in an impressive evening conjunction in early March.

Far to the South of Venus in early February was the constellation of Piscis Australis, the Southern Fish. Ancient Greek and Babylonian mythology describes it as being the parent of the much more famous zodiacal Pisces and it was envisaged as drinking the water poured from the Water-Bearer's amphora. The constellation's brightest star is Fomalhaut ( PsA or Alpha Piscis Austrini, mag. +1.2), a blue-white star whose Arabic name translates as the 'fish's mouth'. In 2012 an extra-solar planet (or exoplanet, a planet outside our Solar System) was confirmed as orbiting the star, known initially as Fomalhaut b and later as Dagon. Venus passed 21°.8 North of Fomalhaut on February 6th.

At 01:39 UT on February 10th Venus passed 18' (0°.3) South of the star Aqr (Phi Aquarii, mag. +4.2), which on older star maps is one of several stars which marked the stream of water flowing from the Water-Bearer's amphora. At 10 hours UT on the same day the planet passed 2°.9 North of ¹ Aqr (Psi-1 Aquarii, mag. +4.2), another star in the water stream and another which has an exoplanet, named 91 Aquarii b.

On February 15th Venus was involved in a very close conjunction with Neptune, by far the closest of the 2022-23 evening apparition. It took place just 15' (0°.25) South of the Aquarian border with Pisces. Due to the narrow solar elongation the conjunction was only observable (with difficulty) from latitudes South of about 56° North and was unobservable from most of the Southern hemisphere. Optical aid is always required in order to see Neptune, which had occupied Aquarius since 2010 and would leave it in a few weeks' time. At the moment of conjunction, Jupiter, temporarily occupying Cetus, was positioned 15° to the WNW of the pair.

Venus entered Pisces, the Fishes, on February 16th. From around the 10th to the 17th of the month the planet passed several degrees South of the Circlet of Pisces, a circular pattern of moderately-bright stars at the far-Western end of the constellation. The passage started at about 18 hours UT on the 10th, when it passed 9°.2 South of   Aqr (Gamma Piscium, mag. +3.7), the Westernmost star of the Circlet. As it began its passage of the Circlet Jupiter was positioned about 14° WNW of Venus, with Venus moving towards it at a rate of 1° per day.

The planet completed its passage of the Circlet at 04 hours UT on February 17th when it passed 6°.1 South of the star TX Psc or 19 Psc (19 Piscium, mag. +5.1v), positioned at the Eastern end of the asterism. It is a red giant variable star with a small irregular brightness variation of between magnitudes +4.8 and +5.2.

In mid-February Venus continued to close the gap between it and Jupiter, ahead of their conjunction in two weeks' time. Jupiter was 12°.3 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on February 18th. After having spent only 13 days in Cetus, Jupiter re-entered Pisces on February 19th with Venus positioned 11°.1 away to its WSW. Jupiter was 10°.3 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 20th and 8°.3 WNW of it at midnight UT on the 22nd.

Venus passed 7°.9 South of the star Psc (Omega Piscium, mag. +4.0), located a short distance East of the Southern Fish's head, on February 20th. On the same day the planet crossed to the North of the celestial equator ( = 0°) in South-western Pisces, causing the planet to set due West across the inhabited world.

At midnight UT on February 24th Jupiter was positioned 6°.3 to the WNW of Venus. At 14 hours UT on the same day Venus passed 10°.0 North of the star   Cet (Iota Ceti, mag. +3.5), located at the tail-end of Cetus. It has been known by the name Deneb Kaitos Shemali but it is mostly not used now because of confusion with the nearby star Diphda ( Cet or Beta Ceti, mag. +3.3), the brightest star in the constellation, which was formerly known as Deneb Kaitos. The original Arabic names of these stars translated as 'tail of the whale' to the North ( Cet) and South ( Cet).

At midnight UT on February 26th Jupiter was positioned 4°.3 to the WNW of Venus, the latter planet reaching a solar elongation of 30° East on the same day. Also on the 26th, Venus - like Jupiter before it - exited the zodiac temporarily, clipping the North-western corner of Cetus, spending a little under 33 hours there before returning to Pisces the following day. Venus was currently moving against the background stars at a rate of about 1°.2 per day. At midnight UT on the final day of February Jupiter was positioned only 2°.2 to the West of Venus.

Jupiter was positioned just 32' (0°.53) to the South-west of Venus at midnight UT on March 2nd. Thirty minutes later Venus passed 22°.2 North of the aforementioned star Diphda ( Cet) in Cetus. At 10:39 UT that same day, in a region of relatively faint stars in central Southern Pisces, Venus passed 32' (0°.53) to the North of Jupiter in the fourth planetary conjunction of the apparition. The event was visible worldwide, although slightly more favourable to Northern hemisphere observers (for more details see the Planetary Conjunctions section below). Venus always shines brighter than Jupiter - on this occasion 5¾ times brighter - the brightness difference being the easiest way to discern by naked-eye which is which during a conjunction.

Following conjunction, Venus sped on towards the ENE, leaving Jupiter behind it to close its apparition in late March. On March 3rd Venus passed 2°.9 South of Psc (Delta Piscium, mag. +4.4), positioned about half-way along the Southern Fish's body, at which time the planet was 1°.1 North-west of Jupiter.

Venus passed 1°.6 South of Psc (Epsilon Piscium, mag. +4.3) on March 6th, at which time it was 4°.2 WNW of Jupiter. At 19:27 UT on March 8th the planet passed just 6' (0°.1) South of the variable & double-star Revati ( Psc or Zeta Piscium, mag. +5.2), a name adopted by the IAU in 2017 and which is derived from an ancient Hindu lunar mansion. As Venus passed Revati, the angular gap between it and Jupiter had widened to 6°.6. On March 12th Venus passed 6°.8 South of Alpherg ( Psc or Eta Piscium, mag. +3.8), the brightest star in Pisces, whose name is Arabic for 'the cord', i.e. the cord that ties the two Fishes together. By the time Venus passed Alpherg it was 10°.5 to the WNW of Jupiter.

Venus crossed the ecliptic from South to North on March 14th and entered Aries, the Ram, on the 16th. On March 15th the planet passed 1°.8 North of Torcular ( Psc or Omicron Piscium, mag. +4.2) which is positioned in the tail of the Northern Fish. The name Torcular was formerly standardized by the IAU in 2017, the original name having been the fanciful Torcularis Septentrionalis. Venus will occult the star during its morning apparition in 2027.

At 16:30 UT on March 17th Venus passed 7°.4 South of the double star Mesarthim ( Ari or Gamma Arietis, mag. +3.9) in Western Aries. Easily resolved in small telescopes, it comprises two white stars of magnitudes +4.6 and +4.7, separated by 7".5. At 22:30 UT on the same day, the planet passed 8°.8 South of the multiple star Sheratan ( Ari or Beta Arietis, mag. +2.6), whose name is Arabic for 'the signs'.

On March 20th Venus passed a wide 10°.2 South of the Ram's brightest star Hamal ( Ari or Alpha Arietis, mag. +2.1). In 2011 the star was found to have an exoplanet orbiting around it. The exoplanet is the equivalent of 1.7 Jupiter masses and orbits the star at a distance of 1.1 AU in a period of 380 days.

Venus exited Chart 1 around March 28th and entered Chart 2 coverage thereafter.

From around 11 hours UT on March 24th the 2-day old Moon passed in front of Venus, blocking it from view for a short while, in an event called a lunar occultation. Because of Solar System geometry, lunar occultations - like solar eclipses - can only be viewed from particular regions of the world during any given event. In this case - the only lunar occultation of the planet's 2022-23 apparition - the event was visible in twilight/darkness from South-east Asia (South-east China, Bangladesh, Myanmaar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Hong Kong). The visibility track and timings can be seen by following the link in the Moon near Venus Dates section below.

By the end of March Jupiter - now 37° to the WSW of Venus - became lost in the evening twilight, ending the giant planet's 2022-23 apparition. On March 28th Venus passed 13°.5 North of the star Kaffaljidhma ( Cet or Gamma Ceti, mag. +3.6) in Cetus, a double star comprising yellow and blue components of magnitude +3.5 and +7.0, separated by just 2".7. On March 29th the planet passed 12°.1 South of Lilii Borea (39 Ari or 39 Arietis, mag. +4.5), a Latin name meaning 'Northern Lily'. The name was formally recognised by the IAU in 2017 and is named after the short-lived constellation Lilium, the Lily, a fleur-de-lis placed in this part of the sky during the 17th century by the Frenchman Ignace-Gaston Pardies (1636–1673) in honour of King Louis XIV. On March 30th Venus passed.9°.9 South of another star whose name was adopted by the IAU in 2017: Bharani (41 Ari or 41 Arietis, mag. +3.6), named after the second lunar mansion in Hindu astrology.

On March 31st Venus passed 1°.3 to the North of the planet Uranus in the fifth planetary conjunction of the 2022-23 evening apparition. Uranus had been occupying Aries since 2018 and will depart the constellation in May 2024. The conjunction was more favourably positioned for Northern hemisphere observers (see below for more details). Later that same day Venus passed 3°.3 South of the star Ari (Epsilon Arietis, mag. +4.6) which is both a double star and a variable star.

At 12:10 UT on April 3rd the planet passed 45' (0°.75) South of the Ram's Easternmost bright star Botein ( Ari or Delta Arietis, mag. +4.3) which on older star maps marked the hind leg of the Ram.

By late March Venus had brightened to magnitude -4.0, its apparent diameter had increased to 14".0 and its illuminated phase was around 80%. With the elongation now approaching 40° East of the Sun, the planet was setting around 4 hours after sunset (at high-Northern latitudes), 3 hours after sunset (at low and mid-Northern latitudes), 2½ hours after sunset (at Northern Tropical latitudes), 2 hours after sunset (Equatorial and Southern Tropical latitudes) and 1½ hours after sunset (mid-Southern latitudes).

In early April Mercury emerged into the dusk sky in the first of three evening apparitions of the planet during 2023. Due to the high inclination of the ecliptic to the Western horizon after sunset in the Northern hemisphere, this particular apparition favoured observers here. As it emerged Mercury was approaching Venus at a rate of about 0°.6 per day. At midnight UT, Mercury (mag. -1.0) was positioned 22°.2 WSW of Venus on the 2nd and 20°.5 WSW of Venus on the 5th. On April 6th Venus passed 11°.0 North of Tau (Omicron Tauri, mag. +3.6), the Westernmost bright star in Taurus, the Bull, entering the constellation itself on April 7th.

Mercury was located 19°.7 WSW of Venus at midnight UT on April 8th. On April 9th Venus and Mercury came to within 19°.5 of each other; in this particular apparition they did not reach conjunction. At midnight UT on the 11th Mercury was 19°.6 WSW of Venus, and on the same day it reached its greatest elongation from the Sun (19°.5 East) in central Aries. Throughout this paired apparition of Venus and Mercury, the planet Uranus (mag. +5.8) was positioned between the two, although it was now only visible with optical aid between mid-Northern latitudes and the Equator for a very short period after dusk.

Throughout April, Venus was seen at its highest altitude after sunset (for the current apparition) from high-Northern latitudes. At latitude 60º North the planet was positioned 25º above the Western horizon at 30 minutes after sunset. Because of the combination of the planet's high declination and the shallow setting angle of celestial objects at these high latitudes, Venus was above the horizon for a remarkable 4½-5 hours after sunset.

Venus passed South of the famous star cluster known as The Pleiades (pronounced 'PLY-add-eez' or 'PLEE-add-eez'), also called The Seven Sisters (Messier 45), between April 10th and 11th. They are perhaps the best-known star cluster in the night sky, having an angular width of about 1°. Under dark skies the seven brightest stars in the group can be seen with the naked-eye; they are Alcyone ( Tauri or Eta Tauri, mag. +2.9), Atlas (mag. +3.6), Electra (mag. +3.7), Merope (mag. +4.2), Taygete (mag. +4.3), Pleione (mag. +5.1v) and Celaeno (mag. +5.5).Venus was positioned 2°.7 South of Electra (the cluster's brightest Western star) at 10:30 UT on April 10th and 2°.4 South of Atlas (its brightest Eastern star) at 08 hours UT on April 11th.

On April 13th Venus passed 9°.8 North of the eclipsing binary star Tau (Lambda Tauri), positioned at the 'heart' of the Bull figure, whose magnitude varies from ca. +3.5 to +4.0 over a period of four days.

From about April 15th, Mercury's Eastward motion slowed considerably as it headed towards its Eastern stationary point, causing Venus to slowly begin catching up with it.

On April 17th Venus passed through its closest orbital point to the Sun, known as the perihelion, at a solar distance of 0.7184 AU, equivalent to 107.5 million kms or 66.8 million statute miles. On the same day the planet reached an elongation of 40° East of the Sun.

From April 17th to 20th, Venus passed several degrees North of a much larger star cluster called the Hyades (from the ancient Greek word for 'rain'). It is a distinct 'V'-shaped grouping of stars which form the head of the Bull. The cluster comprises around 400 stars spread over an area of about 5° of the sky. At the apex of the 'V' is the star Prima Hyadum ( Tau or Gamma Tauri, mag. +3.6) which, before standardization by the IAU, was known variously as Primus Hyadum or Hyadum. Venus passed 7°.7 North of the star on April 17th. On April 18th Venus passed 6°.0 North of the star Secunda Hyadum (¹ Tau or Delta-1 Tauri, mag. +3.7), a triple star system positioned about half-way along the Northern arm of the Hyades. Before IAU standardization in 2017, the star was also known as Secundus Hyadum or Hyadum II.

Also positioned along the Northern arm is the star Ain ( Tau or Epsilon Tauri, mag. +3.5), marking the base of the Bull's Northern horn. An exoplanet was detected orbiting this star in 2007, named Amateru in 2014 after the Japanese shrines which honour Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of the Sun. Venus passed 4°.5 North of Ain on April 19th. At the same moment, Venus passed 7°.9 North of Chamukuy (² Tau or Theta-2 Tauri, mag. +3.7), the brightest of the Hyades' 'true' members, positioned about half-way along the Southern arm of the cluster. The name is that of a small bird in Yucatec Mayan culture and it was officially named by the IAU in 2017. The star forms a naked-eye yellow-white double with  ¹ Tau (Theta-1 Tauri, mag. +3.8), positioned some 337" (5'.6 or 0°.09) to the North.

Also on April 19th, Venus passed 1°.3 North of the star Tau (Tau Tauri or 'Tau Tau', mag. +4.2), another star which is not part of the Hyades group. Positioned at the 'bend' of the Bull's Northern horn, it is a multiple-star system and a member of an obscure open star cluster known as Alessi 51.

At the South-eastern corner of the 'V' shaped cluster, marking the 'eye' of the Bull, is the orange-red star Aldebaran ( Tau or Alpha Tauri, mag. +0.9). Its coloration derives from the fact that it is a red giant star. Most of the Hyades stars comprise a genuine cluster, moving through space together, however Aldebaran is not part of the group; it is a foreground star, positioned closer to the Earth than the cluster. Aldebaran is believed to host an exoplanet (Aldebaran b) although recent data analysis has cast some doubt upon its existence. If it exists, it is estimated to have a minimum mass of about six Jupiter masses. Venus passed 7°.5 North of Aldebaran on April 20th.

Mercury reached its Eastern stationary point in central Aries on April 21st, with Venus positioned 26° away to its ENE. Mercury was then quickly lost in the dusk twilight, leaving Venus speeding on Eastwards.

Later in the month, as seen from high-Northern latitudes, twilight began to interfere with observation of Venus after sunset, as the Northern hemisphere summer approached.

From April 23rd through to mid-May, Venus passed to the North of the distinct figure of Orion, the Hunter, which is perhaps the second most recognisable constellation in the night sky (after Ursa Major, which features The Plough or Big Dipper asterism). From April 24th to 25th the planet passed to the North of Orion's bow, comprising the stars Tabit (³ Ori, or Pi-3 Orionis, mag. +3.2) at the centre, ¹ Ori (Pi-1 Orionis, mag. +4.6) at the top and ⁶ Ori (Pi-6 Orionis, mag. +4.5) at the base.

At 15:39 UT on April 27th Venus was positioned at 1.0000 AU from the Earth, i.e. the same distance from the Sun as the Earth's average distance from the Sun (149.5 million kms or 92.9 million statute miles). At this point in the apparition the distance between Venus and the Earth was reducing at an average rate of about 1.1 million kms (690,500 statute miles) per day.

On April 30th Venus passed 19°.4 North of Bellatrix ( Ori or Gamma Orionis, mag. +1.6), positioned at the North-western corner star of Orion's distinctive quadrilateral.

By the beginning of May Venus had brightened further to magnitude -4.2 and its solar elongation was more than 40° from the Sun. The planet had become an interesting telescopic object with an apparent diameter of around 17" and showing a gibbous, 65% illuminated phase.

From around mid-April to mid-May, observers at mid-Northern latitudes saw the planet at its highest altitude after sunset during this apparition. At latitude 40º North in early May, some 30 minutes after sunset, Venus was positioned a significant 32º high in the West, setting over 3½ hours after the Sun. For the situation at other world latitudes see the Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration table below).

On May 1st Venus passed 2°.9 South of the star Elnath ( Tau or Beta Tauri, mag. +1.6) which marks the tip of the Bull's Northern horn. The star also carries the name Gamma Aurigae ( Aur) because it neatly completes the six-sided figure comprising the stars of Auriga, the Charioteer, located to the North-east of Taurus. The star marking the tip of the Bull's Southern horn is Tianguan ( Tau or Zeta Tauri, mag. +2.9v) and Venus passed 4°.7 to the North of it on May 3rd. The name, adopted by the IAU in 2017, is derived from Chinese astronomy, in which the star is known as the Celestial Gate, part of an asterism contained within a mansion called Bì Xiù ('the Net').

On May 6th Venus passed 5°.8 North of ¹ Ori (Chi-1 Orionis, mag. +4.4), one of two stars which mark the top of Orion's 'club'. Later that same day the planet passed 18°.8 North of Betelgeuse ( Ori or Alpha Orionis, mag. +0.7v), the most distinctive star in Orion, positioned at the North-eastern corner of the Hunter's quadrilateral. It appears orange-red to the naked-eye, due to the fact that it is a red supergiant; astronomers believe it could explode as a supernova at any time. It is also a variable star whose magnitude fluctuates between about +0.0 and +1.3 over a period of several years.

On May 8th Venus entered Gemini, the Twins. As it did so the planet Mars, at magnitude +1.4, was situated in the Eastern half of the constellation and was soon to depart it. The Red Planet was now in the final months of its 2021-23 apparition, which saw it reach opposition to the Sun in Taurus at magnitude -1.8 five months earlier.

Between 14h UT and 23h UT on May 9th Venus passed 1°.7 North of the star cluster M35 (NGC 2168). The cluster has an apparent diameter of 30' (about the same apparent size as the Full Moon) and on a dark, clear night it can be glimpsed with the naked-eye as a misty patch of light. On the same day, Venus attained its most Northerly declination for this apparition, at +26° 5' 9" ( = +26°.086 in decimal form). Across the world, the planet now set at its most Northerly point along the local horizon, the actual point of setting depending upon the observer's latitude. For example, at 60° North in early May, Venus set in the North-west, while at mid-Northern latitudes it set in the WNW. Also on May 9th, Venus passed 6°.0 North of ² Ori (Chi-2 Orionis, mag. +4.6), thereby completing its passage of the Hunter's 'club'.

On May 10th Venus passed 3°.5 North of Propus ( Gem or Eta Geminorum, mag. +3.5v), positioned at the trailing foot of the Northern Twin, who is identified from ancient Greek mythology as the legendary Argonaut named Castor. Propus was also referred to as Tejat Prior or Praepes before IAU standardization. On May 12th the planet passed 3°.6 North of Tejat ( Gem or Mu Geminorum, mag. +3.0v), which together with Propus marks the lower part of the Northern Twin's trailing leg. Before IAU standardization the star was known by the name of Tejat Posterior, among others. On May 15th Venus passed 9°.6 North of Alhena ( Gem or Gamma Geminorum, mag. +1.9), at the ankle of the Southern Twin's left leg.

In mid-May Venus was approaching Mars at a rate of about 0°.5 per day; they would come closest to each other at the start of July but in this apparition they would not reach conjunction.

From mid-May observers at high-Northern latitudes began to note Venus' altitude at any given period after sunset falling away with each passing day; at thirty minutes after sunset the planet was placed around 22° high in mid-May but it would fall to about 11° by mid-June (see horizon diagram for 55° North below).

At 00:50 UT on May 17th Venus passed 42' (0°.7) North of the star Mebsuta ( Gem or Epsilon Geminorum, mag. +3.0) which is positioned at the groin of the Northern Twin. On May 21st the planet passed 4°.9 North of Mekbuda (Gem or Zeta Geminorum, mag. +3.9v) which is positioned at the right knee of the Southern Twin (Pollux).

Also on May 21st, Venus reached its maximum ecliptic latitude of the apparition, at +2°.8. This should not be confused with the maximum declination which the planet attained just 12 days earlier. Ecliptic latitude (symbol ) is measured in relation to the ecliptic plane (the apparent path of the Sun through the zodiac, which is also the plane of the Earth's orbit in space). The ecliptic itself has a latitude of 0° ( = 0°); latitudes to the North of it are measured positive (+) and those to the South of it are measured negative (-). Declination, on the other hand, is measured in relation to the celestial equator, which is the 0° latitude of Earth projected from the Earth's centre into space; declinations are likewise measured positive and negative in relation to it. The two planes (ecliptical and equatorial) are inclined at 23°.4 to each other, caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis in space. The fact that Venus attained its maximum ecliptic latitude less than two weeks after its maximum declination was simply a chance consequence of Solar System geometry. Neither was an ecliptic latitude of 2°.8 particularly high, since Venus can attain latitudes of up to 8°.5 on some occasions when it is positioned between the Earth and the Sun around inferior conjunction (see, for example, the section on Bi-Daily Observations of Venus on the Venus Conjunctions page).

At 01:50 UT on May 22nd, Venus appeared to form an isoscelene triangle with Gemini's two brightest stars, Castor ( Gem or Alpha Geminorum, mag. +1.6) and Pollux ( Gem or Beta Geminorum, mag. +1.1), the long sides of the triangle measuring 8°.9 and the angular distance of the short side (from Castor to Pollux) being 4°.5. The temporary celestial triangle pointed South-westwards towards Orion. This celestial geometry was best seen after dusk from the Atlantic Seaboard of the USA and Canada, the Caribbean and Central America.

On May 24th Venus passed 3°.0 North of the star Wasat ( Gem or Delta Geminorum, mag. +3.5), located at the groin of the Southern Twin. The planet passed 7°.4 South of Castor itself on May 28th.

Positioned close to Gemini's Northern border with Lynx is another star whose 'new' name was officially recognised by the IAU in 2017. Jishui ( Gem or Omicron Geminorum, mag. +4.9) is a name derived from ancient Chinese astronomy. Jishui was the water flow from the River Beihe which was used for wine-making and brewing. In the Chinese night sky the river was identified with the stars Castor, Pollux and nearby Gem (Rho Geminorum, mag. +4.2). Venus passed 10°.2 South of Jishui on May 29th.

At 11:08 UT on May 30th, Venus passed 23' (0°.38) South of the star Gem (Kappa Geminorum, mag. +3.5), which is positioned 3°.6 to the South of Pollux; the three appeared to form a line 4° in length. At 16 hours UT on the same day the planet passed 4°.0 South of Pollux itself. In 2006 an exoplanet was discovered orbiting Pollux, named Pollux b or Thestias, which is 34 light years distant.

In late May, observers at Northern Tropical latitudes saw Venus attain its highest altitude after sunset for the 2022-23 apparition. At latitude 20º North Venus was positioned 37º high in the WNW at 30 minutes after sunset, setting some 3¼ hours after the Sun.

At around 10 hours UT on June 2nd the stars Castor and Pollux appeared to 'point the way' to Venus in the dusk sky, the three forming a line 9°.8 long. The line pointed SSE towards the head of Hydra, the Water Snake, some 31° distant. Observers in the South-western Pacific Rim were best positioned to see the line-up, immediately after dusk.

At 21:55 UT on the same day (2nd) the Sun-Venus and Earth-Venus distances were equal, at 0.7220 AU (108 million kms or 67.1 million miles). Seen from far above the Earth's North pole, the Earth, Venus and the Sun now appeared to form an isoscelene triangle in space, with Venus positioned at the apex.

Venus entered Cancer, the Crab, on June 3rd, with Mars, now in the centre of that constellation, positioned 10°.1 to its ESE.

At 10:55 UT on June 4th Venus reached its greatest elongation from the Sun for this apparition (45°.39 East), positioned 7°.1 South-east of Pollux. At this point, telescopes showed Venus' disk half-illuminated (phase = 0.50 or 50%) which is often referred to as the moment of dichotomy. The planet's apparent diameter was 23".5 and it shone at magnitude -4.4. When seen from a point far above the Solar System, the Earth, Venus and the Sun now formed a right-angled triangle in space, with Venus positioned at the 90° angle. Although the greatest elongation from the Sun took place on June 4th, Venus was in fact positioned at about 45°.4 elongation for an eight-day period from June 1st through to the 8th. Venus was now moving Eastwards against the background stars at a daily rate of 1° per day.

For a few days around greatest elongation, telescopic observers often attempt to determine the precise moment when the terminator (the line separating the light and dark sides of the planet) appears perfectly straight, essentially dividing Venus into two perfect halves. Solar System geometry suggests that this should occur on greatest elongation day, however it often does not and the precise reason for this was not understood until quite recently. Observers often report the straight terminator a few days earlier or later than the greatest elongation date (early in evening apparitions and late in morning apparitions). Hence in this apparition, telescopic observers could expect to see a 50% phase on or around June 1st. This is commonly known as the phase anomaly or Schröter's Effect (the latter coined by the late Sir Patrick Moore after the German astronomer Johann Schröter, who first observed the effect in 1793). The phenomenon is thought to be due to Venus' dense atmosphere scattering the sunlight. Blue light scatters more readily than red light (which is why the sky on Earth appears blue) and this effect is also seen on Venus when it is observed using coloured eyepiece filters. The phase anomaly is much more evident when the planet is observed through a blue filter, whilst the anomaly is less evident when seen through filters of other colours, e.g. red or yellow.

For observers around the Equator the date of Venus' maximum solar elongation in 2023 was ideal, since it coincided with the period during which the planet attained its highest position above the local horizon after sunset. On greatest elongation day at the Equator, at 30 minutes after sunset, the planet was a significant 37° above the WNW horizon - the highest altitude seen from any latitude during the 2022-23 apparition. From these latitudes the high elevation of the planet after sunset continued through to about the middle of the month. In fact, when taken in terms of the planet's visual impact and its ease of viewing, the 2022-23 evening apparition of Venus was best seen overall from Equatorial latitudes. In addition, twilight is brief around the Equator throughout the year, so the planet was now seen in true brilliance against a fully dark sky.

Elsewhere on greatest elongation day, the altitude of Venus at 30 minutes after sunset reduced the further away from the Equator the observer was situated. At 30° North, for example, Venus was 33° above the Western horizon at 30 minutes after sunset whilst at 50° North the planet was 23° above the Western horizon under the same circumstances. At 15° South the planet was positioned 34° above the North-western horizon at 30 minutes after sunset whilst at 45° South it was 19° above the NNW horizon under the same circumstances. On greatest elongation day Venus was visible for around 3¼ hours after sunset, a period which was unusually consistent across most latitudes (details of the altitudes, directions and visible durations of Venus after sunset for this apparition can be seen for a variety of latitudes in the table below).

For dedicated telescopic observers of Venus, a high placement of the planet in the sky after sunset - whether or not this takes place around greatest elongation day - is of little benefit. Because of the planet's glare when seen against a darkening sky, coupled with the Earth's troublesome atmospheric turbulence at low altitudes, most telescope users observe the planet in full daylight, when it is high above the horizon and more easily seen against a brighter sky. Of course, extreme caution must be taken when attempting to observe any of the planets in daylight and the Sun must be positioned at a safe angular distance from the planet and be fully shielded from view.

With greatest elongation day having passed, the planet's phase changed from gibbous to crescentic, i.e. with a phase of less than 50%. Telescopically the next two months would prove most interesting as the crescent became more slender in appearance and enlarged day by day as the planet drew closer to the Earth in space.

At around 08 hours UT on June 6th Venus passed 2°.0 South of the star  Cnc (Lambda Cancri, mag. +5.9), a multiple star which, for many observers under typical night sky conditions, is close to the limit of naked-eye visibility. Its brightest component (Lambda Cancri A) was formally named Piautos by the IAU in 2018, after the name of a lunar station in an ancient Coptic manuscript. On June 7th Venus passed 13°.1 North of Cancer's brightest star Tarf ( Cnc or Beta Cancri, mag. +3.5), which is located at the South-western corner of the constellation's lambda-shaped () figure. The name Tarf  is derived from the Arabic Al Tarf meaning 'the End', i.e. the end of the Crab's leg.

Between 02 hours UT on June 13th and 09 hours UT on the 14th Venus passed North of the star cluster Praesepe (pronounced 'pree-SEE-pee') also known as The Beehive Cluster (M44 or NGC 2632) which is located at the centre of the Crab. Under dark, rural skies it is visible to the naked-eye as a hazy patch of light and in suburban locations it is easily seen in binoculars. 'Praesepe' is a Latin word meaning 'manger', so named after the Nativity story in the Christian Bible; indeed, another less commonly used name for the cluster is The Manger. Venus took about 31 hours to move the angular width of the cluster, passing 48' (0°.8) North of its centre at around 18 hours UT on the 13th.

At 12:55 UT on June 14th Venus passed 1º.1 South of Asellus Borealis ( Cnc or Gamma Cancri, mag. +4.6), then at 22:30 UT on the same day, passed 2°.0 North of Asellus Australis ( Cnc or Delta Cancri, mag. +3.9). The two stars are separated in the night sky by 3º.3 and they flank the Praesepe cluster on its Eastern side. They represent the Northern donkey and the Southern donkey, which were both present in the Nativity story. Venus passed precisely between the two stars at 16:50 UT.

At 13 hours UT on June 15th Venus passed 8°.7 South of   Cnc (Iota Cancri, mag. +4.0), at the top of the Crab figure. At 17:32 UT on the same day Venus occulted an eighth-magnitude star in central Cancer with the Tycho catalogue designation TYC 1396−00794−1, a telescopic event which was only visible from a narrow strip of the world from North-eastern Africa through the Middle East and far Western Russia. The star disappeared behind the dark limb of Venus and, several minutes later, re-appeared from behind its bright limb. Details of the path, visibility zone and timings of the event can be seen at the Belgian VVS website.

On June 19th Venus passed 7º.1 North of Acubens ( Cnc or Alpha Cancri, mag. +4.3), which is positioned at the South-eastern corner of the Crab figure.

From mid-June, observers situated at mid-Northern latitudes began to see Venus' altitude at any given period after sunset fall increasingly rapidly day-by-day. Thirty minutes after sunset, the planet was positioned some 28º above the horizon in mid-June but it fell to just 14º by mid-July (see horizon diagram for 35° North below). South of about 50º North latitude the planet was also seen to 'backtrack' somewhat, heading a little Southwards along the horizon. This was due to the fact that Venus was now moving Southwards in declination - moving South-eastwards through Cancer - causing its apparent position along the horizon to also head Southward. This 'backtracking' was more evident the further South an observer was located.

In mid-June Venus continued its slow approach towards Mars, which by now had faded slightly to magnitude +1.6. At midnight UT on June 16th the Red Planet was 5°.9 ESE of Venus and at midnight UT on June 18th it was 5°.4 ESE of Venus. As Mars entered Leo at 11 hours UT on June 20th it was positioned 4°.8 ESE of Venus. The crescent Moon passed to the North of the pair from June 21st to 22nd.

In late June, observers at Southern Tropical latitudes saw Venus at its best for the 2022-23 evening apparition. Half an hour after sunset, the planet was positioned 33º above the North-western horizon (a third of the way 'up the sky'), setting around 3¼ hours after the Sun. By this time Venus had brightened to magnitude -4.6 and its apparent diameter had swollen to over 30", some three times the size it had appeared back in early February. With an illuminated crescentic phase of around 35% the planet was a beautiful sight when seen through even the smallest telescopes.

Venus entered Leo, the Lion, on June 26th, the final zodiacal constellation in which the planet was seen during the 2022-23 evening apparition. By this time its daily rate of motion had slowed to 0°.7 per day and it was now approaching Mars at a rate of just 0°.14 per day. Over the next seven weeks Venus occupied only the South-western corner of the Lion, positioned to the South of the Sickle of Leo asterism.

From late June, observers at higher-Northern latitudes began to have some difficulty viewing Venus as it sank into the bright summer twilight, setting around 1½ hours after the Sun. Meanwhile observers located South of the Northern Tropics continued to enjoy views of the 'Evening Star' in darkness, some 30° high at 30 minutes after sunset and visible for around 3 hours after sunset.

On June 29th Venus passed 24°.5 North of Alphard ( Hya or Alpha Hydrae, mag. +2.0), the brightest star in Hydra. It is an orange giant star whose name is Arabic for 'the Solitary One' since there are no other bright stars for some distance around it.

By the end of June Venus' Eastward motion had slowed to such an extent that it was no longer closing in on Mars which, as its distance from Earth continued to increase, had faded further to magnitude +1.7. For a few days between June 29th and July 2nd, the two planets appeared to move together against the background stars of Western Leo, separated by about 3°.6.

From late June and into early July, observers at mid-Southern latitudes finally got their chance to see Venus at its highest and best for this apparition. At 35º South, at 30 minutes after sunset, Venus was placed 29º high in the North-western sky, setting around 3½ hours after the Sun. In stark contrast, high-Northern latitudes now saw the planet setting in twilight only an hour after sunset, the altitude of the planet being only 5° or so above the horizon at 30 minutes after sundown.

On July 1st Venus came to within 3°.5 of Mars before deviating Southwards. Venus crossed to the South of the ecliptic on July 4th and, on the following day, passed 3°.8 North of the star Subra ( Leo or Omicron Leonis, mag. +3.5), a name which is Arabic for a mane or shoulder although in H. A. Rey's 1954 depiction it marks the paw of the Lion's advancing leg. Venus fell below a solar elongation of 40° East on July 6th.

From early July observers at Equatorial latitudes began to see Venus reduce noticeably in altitude at any given period after sunset. The best of the show now over, the planet fell from 34° high (at 30 minutes after sunset) at the start of July to just 11° at the end of the month - a fall of about 0°.75 in altitude per day (see horizon diagram for the Equator below).

Venus attained its greatest brilliancy for this apparition (mag. -4.7) on July 7th at around 14 hours UT. This occurs when its illuminated phase and its angular size combine to best visual effect. For the 2022-23 apparition, this took place when the planet was 26% illuminated (phase = 0.26), its angular diameter was 37".3 and its solar elongation was 39°.

As Venus began to curve Southwards in South-western Leo it passed 1°.1 North of the Mira-type variable star R Leonis on July 9th. The star's magnitude varies between a naked-eye +5.4 and a telescopic +10.5 over a period of about 312 days. When at maximum brightness it appears distinctly red.

Mars passed 42' (0°.7) to the North of Leo's brightest star Regulus ( Leo or Alpha Leonis, mag. +1.4) on July 10th, with Venus positioned 4°.6 to the West. To the naked-eye the Red Planet was now only a feeble pale orange 'star' shining slightly dimmer than Regulus. Venus came to within 3°.5 of Regulus on July 16th but in this apparition the planet did not pass by it in longitude.

At 07:42 UT on July 11th Venus occulted a magnitude +6.9 star with the designations SAO98806, HIP48298 and TYC 0831-01103-1. The occultation was visible low over the Western sky after dusk from a narrow strip of the Earth extending from Western Polynesia to New Zealand. Like the occultation of a faint star in Cancer on June 15th, this star disappeared behind Venus' dark limb and re-appeared from behind its bright limb, in this instance up to 25 minutes later. The duration of this occultation was much longer than that in June because Venus was now moving much more slowly against the background stars.

Around mid-month Venus pulled further Southwards away from the ecliptic, its solar elongation narrowing from 35° (on July 15th) to 20° (at month's end). This slow Southward movement slightly improved the visibility of the planet after sunset from Southern hemisphere latitudes, despite its reducing elongation, but it increasingly worsened its visibility from Northern latitudes. Indeed, observers at high-Northern latitudes lost Venus from the evening sky around this time as it disappeared into the bright dusk twilight.

By mid-July Mars was noticeably moving away Eastwards from Venus, their courses now diverging. Taken at midnight UT, the Red Planet was 6°.0 East of Venus on the 15th, 6°.8 East of it on the 17th and 7°.8 East of it on the 19th.

Around July 15th Mercury (mag. -0.7) entered the dusk sky at the start of its second evening apparition of 2023, approaching Venus rapidly from the WNW at a rate of 1°.6 per day. Mercury was positioned 20°.5 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 15th and 15°.9 WNW of Venus at midnight UT on the 18th. The waxing crescent Moon was in the vicinity of Mercury and Venus from July 19th to 20th.

At around 09 hours UT on July 20th observers located South of about 30° North were treated to an evening grouping of planets comprising Mercury, Venus and Mars, together with the crescent Moon, clustered around Regulus. The foursome were found low down in the Western sky at dusk (in the WNW sky from latitudes South of about 15° South). The grouping measured about 19° in celestial longitude and about 7° in celestial latitude, with Mercury positioned in Cancer and the other three in Leo.

Mercury (mag. -0.3) was located 11°.6 North-west of Venus at midnight UT on the 21st (on which day Mercury entered Leo) and 7°.6 North-west of Venus on the 24th. Mars was positioned about 12° to the East of the pair, slowly moving Eastwards beneath the belly of the Lion.

From mid-June to mid-July, some thirty minutes after sunset, observers at mid-Southern latitudes had been enjoying views of Venus of around 30° high. However the planet's altitude began to fall significantly after mid-month. From an altitude of around 28° (at 30 minutes after sunset) in mid-July, Venus fell to just 17° at month's end, a fall of about 0°.8 in altitude per day. The rate of descent would become even more rapid in August (see horizon diagram for 30° South below).

Venus' Eastward motion ceased on July 20th when it reached its Eastern stationary point, positioned some 3º.8 to the SSW of Regulus. Venus then started to move retrograde (East to West) and its solar elongation reduced more rapidly. The planet had also faded slightly to magnitude -4.5.

From the third week of July, observers at mid-Northern latitudes began to have some difficulty viewing Venus as its altitude fell below 10° (at 30 minutes after sunset), setting about an hour later. At 50° North the planet set precisely at 30 minutes after sunset. Elsewhere Venus set 1½ hours after the Sun (at Equatorial and Northern Tropical latitudes), 2 hours after the Sun (at Southern Tropical latitudes) and 2¼ hours after the Sun (at mid-Southern latitudes). However, the lengthy visibility of the planet from Southern latitudes was destined to be short-lived, as the planet dropped rapidly in altitude with each passing day.

Venus' solar elongation fell below 30° East on July 22nd, the planet becoming lost in the twilight from mid-Northern latitudes from around this time.

At 12:39 UT on July 26th Mercury (mag. -0.0) passed 5°.3 to the North of Venus in the sixth and final planetary conjunction of the 2022-23 evening apparition. At the moment of conjunction the two planets were heading in very different directions against the background stars: Mercury to the ESE and Venus to the South-west. The conjunction was only seen well from South of the Northern Tropics. After conjunction day, Mercury sped on Eastwards along the zodiac as Venus continued to head South-westwards.

As the apparition drew to a close in late July and early August, observers equipped with binoculars may have attempted to detect the tiny crescent of Venus soon after sunset as it languished low in the Western sky. Telescopes showed a large, thin crescent at this point, over 50" in diameter, the image greatly disturbed by the Earth's turbulent atmosphere and split into the rainbow colours by an effect called dispersion (an example of how dispersion appears through a telescope can be seen here).

As the Venusian crescent continued to enlarge it also became more slender, so that the dark night side of the planet was well-displayed when seen from the Earth. With the aid of ultraviolet and infrared filters, telescopic observers now began their search for the mysterious and elusive Ashen Light, a faint glowing of the night side of Venus which until recently had no clear explanation. The Ashen Light is now believed to be caused by the planet's surface glowing red hot due to its extremely high surface temperature. Observers in the Southern hemisphere were best placed to view the Light at this late stage of the apparition due to the higher altitude of Venus above the horizon after sunset.

At midnight UT on July 27th, Mercury was positioned 5°.1 North of Venus. On this day the trio of planets in Leo (Mercury, Venus and Mars) came closest together for this apparition, being about 12° apart in celestial longitude and 5° in celestial latitude. The triangular grouping was observable from latitudes South of about 35° North, low down over the Western horizon at dusk (over the WNW horizon from latitudes South of about 30° South). In the closing days of July Mercury (mag. +1.1) continued to the ESE beneath the Sickle of Leo, passing 7' (0°.11) to the South of Regulus at 00:46 UT on July 29th. The planet was positioned 6°.6 North-east of Venus at midnight UT on the 30th and 7°.7 ENE of it at midnight UT on the 31st.

Venus fell below a solar elongation of 20° East on August 1st and below 15° East on August 4th, having faded still further to magnitude -4.2. At midnight UT, Mercury was located 9°.0 ENE of Venus on the 1st, 10°.4 East of it on the 2nd and 11°.9 East of it on the 3rd.

In early August, observers with exceptionally-good eyesight may have attempted to view the crescent of Venus with the naked-eye. Whilst this may seem extraordinary, the planet's apparent size of around 50" brought it very close to the generally-accepted resolution limit of the human eye, i.e. 1 arcminute (60"). Because the planet's solar elongation was now around 15° or less, glare was no longer a problem because the planet was now seen in bright twilight through to its setting, theoretically allowing the very thin crescent (of around 4% illumination) to be discerned more easily.

Since mid-May the planet's Southward movement along the horizon had been very evident from mid-Southern latitudes. Thirty minutes after sunset, Venus had moved from the North-west at the start of June to the WNW by the start of August, which translated to a drift of about 37° along the horizon in a period of two months (see horizon diagram for 30° South below).

On August 7th Venus again passed through the aphelion point in its orbit - its most distant point from the Sun - as it had done so back in late December, some 224 days previous (i.e. one orbital period of Venus). The planet was again positioned at 0.7282 AU (108.9 million kms or 67.7 million statute miles) from the Sun.

By the end of the first week of August Venus had become lost from view from the remainder of the inhabited world, its solar elongation falling below 10° East on August 9th. As it headed into the bright dusk twilight it was positioned in the South-western corner of Leo, crawling Westwards against the background stars at a rate of 0°.55 per day and shining at magnitude -4.1. Mercury, meanwhile, reached its greatest elongation East of the Sun (27°.4) on the following day, its visibility on this occasion favouring Southern hemisphere observers.

Venus retrograded back into Cancer on August 12th, heading towards inferior conjunction (passing between the Earth and the Sun) which it reached on August 13th. At the moment of inferior conjunction, Venus was positioned some 7º.7 South of the Sun's centre ( = -7º.7). After conjunction, the planet headed into the morning sky. Less than a week later, Venus was sighted again from Southern latitudes, rising in the Eastern sky as a 'Morning Star' shortly before the Sun, heralding a new morning apparition (2023-24) which lasts through to April 2024.

 [Terms in yellow italics are explained in greater detail in an associated article describing planetary movements in the night sky.]

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Venus Conjunctions with other Planets, Evening Apparition 2022-23

There were six observable planetary conjunctions involving Venus during the period in question. The most visually impressive was that between Venus and Jupiter on March 2nd 2023 in central Southern Pisces. It was ideally positioned for the Northern hemisphere due to the steep angle of the ecliptic in the Western sky after sunset at this time of year; it was rather less spectacular when seen from the Southern hemisphere, where the pair were seen at lower horizon altitudes. The angular separation of 32' (0°.53) was equivalent to the apparent size of the Full Moon. At latitude 60° North Venus and Jupiter were positioned at a respectable 20° high in the WSW as Jupiter (the fainter planet) became visible in the dusk twilight, whilst at 40° North they were 26° high. The highest altitudes were in the Northern Tropics where they were 28° high in the West at Jupiter's first appearance. In the Southern hemisphere the pair were in the WNW upon Jupiter's first appearance, the altitudes being as follows: 22° at latitude 15° South, 18° at 25° South, 14° at 35° South and only 9° at 45° South (where the pair were seen in twilight throughout). The planets set in darkness at latitudes North of about 32° South. Seen through the telescope, Jupiter, with an apparent equatorial diameter of 34", appeared 2¾ times larger than gibbous Venus (12".3).

The next best planetary conjunction of the apparition was on January 22nd 2023, when Venus (mag. -3.8) passed 22' (0°.36) South of Saturn (+0.7). Because of the fairly narrow solar elongation (22°), as the ringed planet came into view in the dusk twilight, the event was only seen at low altitude from across the world. At 50° North the pair were positioned at an altitude of only 10° above the South-western horizon, whilst at latitudes from 30° North to the Equator they were only 16° high in the WSW. As Saturn came into view in the Southern hemisphere, the pair were only 10° high in the West at 25° South and just 8° high in the WSW at 35° South.

Venus passed 1°.3 to the North of Uranus (mag. +5.8) on March 31st 2023; their location in Aries providing rather better viewing circumstances for Northern hemisphere observers. At latitude 50° North the pair stood 13° above the Western horizon as Uranus became visible at nightfall whilst at 30° North they were 18° above the Western horizon. The solar elongation was a comfortable 37°, meaning that Northern hemisphere observers could view the pair in darkness for about 1¼ hours before setting. Southern hemisphere observers found the pair positioned low above the WNW horizon as darkness fell - only about 9° high as Uranus became visible at 20° South. Twilight and low altitude rendered the conjunction unobservable South of about latitude 30° South. Conjunctions between Venus and Uranus always require optical aid since Uranus is at the edge of naked-eye visibility and Venus is characteristically bright - in this case 7,500 times brighter than Uranus(!) - therefore Venus' glare caused difficulty in observing the event.

The closest conjunction of the apparition was also the most difficult one to observe. It took place on February 15th 2023, when Venus passed just 53" (0'.88 or 0°.014) to the South of Neptune (mag. +7.9) on the border of Aquarius with Pisces. Since Neptune is the faintest of the observable planets in the night sky and Venus is the brightest, it follows that - much like Uranus - the conjunction was a difficult one to observe, complicated even further in this instance by the narrow solar elongation of 27°. Telescopes are always required to observe conjunctions between these two planets, the brilliance of Venus (in this case magnitude -3.8) prohibiting comfortable viewing, the planet having to be positioned outside the telescopic field to enable Neptune to be comfortably seen. The February 15th conjunction could only be observed - with difficulty - from latitudes between about 56° North and 13° South. At best, Northern Tropical latitudes saw the pair at just 10° above the Western horizon when Neptune was first glimpsed at nightfall, being visible for only 45 minutes before setting. The further one was located from the Northern Tropics, the lower was the altitude: at both 40° North and the Equator, for example, the pair were just 8° high as Neptune became visible.

Conjunctions between Venus and Mercury typically happen two or three times a year but many of them are too close to the Sun to observe; even when they are visible they are often difficult to see because of their narrow solar elongation. The two observable conjunctions between these planets during the 2022-23 evening apparition took place near the start and end of Venus' apparition and were both relatively wide (1°.4 and 5°.3). The widest event on July 26th 2023 was the easier to observe although it was only visible from latitudes South of the mid-Northern hemisphere. As Mercury came into view at dusk, the planets were positioned 8° high in the West (at 30° North), 19° high in the WNW (at the Equator) and 21° high in the WNW (at 35° South), being visible thereafter for about 40 minutes (30° North), 1¼ hours (Equator) and 1½ hours (35° South).

In the conjunction of December 29th 2022 the pair were only 17° East of the Sun in Sagittarius. The altitudes were nowhere higher than 11° as Mercury came into view, falling to just 4° over the South-west horizon (at 50° North) and 5° in the WSW (at 35° South), the pair being visible for less than 40 minutes (50° North), 50 minutes (Equator) and 20 minutes (35° South).

The six planetary conjunctions with Venus which were observable during the 2022-23 evening apparition are summarised in the table below.

Although any given conjunction takes place at a particular instant in time, it is worth pointing out that, because of the planets' relatively slow daily motions, such events are interesting to observe for several days both before and after the actual conjunction date.

There are in fact two methods of defining a planetary conjunction date: one is measured in Right Ascension (i.e. perpendicular to the celestial equator) and the other is measured along the ecliptic, which is inclined at 23½° to the Earth's equatorial plane (this is due to the tilt of the Earth's axis in space). An animation showing how conjunction dates are determined by each method can be found on the Jupiter-Uranus 2010-11 triple conjunction page. Although conjunctions measured along the ecliptic can be significantly closer, the Right Ascension method is the more commonly used, and it is the one which is adopted here.

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Moon near Venus Dates, December 2022 to July 2023

The Moon is easy to find, and on one or two days in each month, it passes Venus in the sky. Use the following table to see on which dates the Moon passed near the planet during its 2022-23 evening apparition:

The Moon moves relatively quickly against the background stars in an Eastward direction, at about its own angular width (0º.5) each hour (about 12º.2 per day). Because it is relatively close to the Earth, an effect called parallax causes it to appear in a slightly different position (against the background stars) when seen from any two locations on the globe at any given instant; the further apart the locations, the greater the Moon's apparent displacement against the background stars. Therefore, for any given date and time listed in the table, the Moon will have appeared closer to Venus when seen from some locations than others. For this reason, the dates shown in the table should be used only for general guidance.

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Direction, Altitude & Visibility Duration of Venus after Sunset, December 2022 to August 2023

The following tables give the direction and altitude (angle above the horizon) of Venus at 30 minutes after sunset, together with the duration of visibility of the planet after sunset, for the 2022-23 evening apparition. An explanation of abbreviations in the tables is given in the box below. For the sake of convenience, the table is split into Northern and Southern hemisphere latitudes (the Equator is included in both tables to allow interpolation of the data for observers situated at Equatorial latitudes). The tables should have proved sufficient to locate the planet in twilight, allowing telescope users to view the planet in comfort (because of Venus' brilliance, glare becomes a problem when the planet is seen through the eyepiece against a dark sky). Direction and Altitude diagrams are also provided below for the Equator and intermediate latitudes of 55° North, 35° North and 30° South.

The tables allow one to find the highest altitude in the sky which Venus attained for any given latitude during the 2022-23 evening apparition, and in which direction it was seen. For example, observers situated at latitude 40° North found the planet highest in the sky (at 30 minutes after sunset) in early May 2023, when it was seen at an altitude of 32° towards the West. The duration column shows that the planet was viewable for a little over 3½ hours after sunset.

Northern Hemisphere Latitudes

Southern Hemisphere Latitudes

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Direction & Altitude Diagrams (Horizon Diagrams) for the 2022-23 Evening Apparition

The following diagrams show an observer's Western horizon (from due South to due North) for latitudes of 55° North (a high-Northern latitude), 35° North (mid-Northern), the Equator and 30° South (mid-Southern). The path of Venus is plotted in the sky at 30 minutes after local sunset throughout the 2022-23 evening apparition with the planet's direction and altitude marked along the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. Essentially, these diagrams show the same information as in the above look-up tables, but in an illustrative format, for the Equator and three intermediate latitudes.

For higher accuracy, the azimuth (the bearing measured clockwise from True North) is also shown along the direction axis. For each of the latitudes shown, the direction and altitude of Venus after sunset can be estimated for any part of the 2022-23 evening apparition by positioning your pointing device over each image, when an overlay grid will appear, marked at 10° intervals; the values can then be read off accordingly.

Although the dates indicated in the above diagrams refer specifically to the period 2022-23, Venus has an 8-year cycle of apparitions such that its position in the evening sky in 2022-23 will repeat very closely in the evening sky of 2030-31. The writer refers to this particular evening apparition as Apparition F1; for more details, see the accompanying article describing The Venus 8-year Cycle.

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Naked-eye Venus: Apparitions, Conjunctions and Elongations

Credits

• The dates of Venus' constellation boundary crossings and star passages were determined from the commercial software RedShift 5 by Maris Technologies Ltd. The times and separations of the lunar conjunctions with Venus (Moon near Venus dates) and planetary conjunction dates were obtained using the software's 'Conjunctions' option of the 'Sky Diary'.
• Directions, altitudes and visibility durations of planetary conjunctions at dusk were determined using the 'Night Sky Map & Planets Visible' utility at TimeandDate.com.

• Details of the most Northerly/Southerly declinations of Venus were obtained from the website The Sky and Its Phenomena by Italian amateur astronomer Pierpaolo Ricci. The future dates of stellar occultations by Venus were obtained from his Occultation of Stars by Planets page.
• The aphelion and perihelion dates of Venus were obtained from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's 'Celestial Phenomena' utility.
• Information on the cultural origins of the IAU's 'newly-named' stars were obtained from the following sources: Revati, Bharani, Chamukuy: UniverseToday.com. Bunda and Tianguan: Wikipedia's Xi Aquarii and Zeta Tauri pages, respectively. Lilii Borea: Ian Ridpath's Star Tales website, with supplementary information from Wikipedia. Piautos: Wikipedia's Lambda Cancri page. Jishui: Ian Ridpath's Star Tales Gemini page.
• The zodiac signs are courtesy of the free graphics site .

Copyright  Martin J Powell  November 2022